Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

US sees more encounters at sea with Chinese navy

WASHINGTON — The United States expects further encounters at sea with China’s navy, said the captain of a US coastal combat ship that has patrolled the disputed South China Sea and met a Chinese ship last month.

WASHINGTON — The United States expects further encounters at sea with China’s navy, said the captain of a US coastal combat ship that has patrolled the disputed South China Sea and met a Chinese ship last month.

The countries have agreed codes to help understand each other and talk via radio, said Commander Rich Jarrett, commanding officer of the USS Fort Worth. The Fort Worth deployed the codes when it unexpectedly met a Chinese vessel near the disputed Spratly Islands during a patrol of the South China Sea last month.

It was the first time a US littoral combat ship operated in waters around the islands, which are claimed by countries including China, the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia.

“I expect that we may have a similar encounter because we’re operating in this part of the world,” Mr Jarrett said in an interview on the ship moored on the Philippines’ Palawan island.

“There is a language barrier between China and the US,” Mr Jarrett said. “Having a common language that we can speak is helpful,” he said, and “it does help avoid any kind of miscalculation”.

Tensions in the South China Sea have risen, with China warning planes and ships away from reefs where it is reclaiming land. A US surveillance plane was repeatedly told by radio to divert from its path last month.

“I don’t think a day goes by anymore that our navy ships and PLAN (People’s Liberation Army Navy) ships aren’t communicating or seeing each other at sea,” said Captain H B Le, deputy commander of Destroyer Squadron 7 whose unit tactically controls the Fort Worth, in an interview yesterday.

The Fort Worth, in the midst of a 16-month deployment to the Asia-Pacific region, is taking part in a military exercise with the Philippines off the east coast of Palawan this week. BLOOMBERG

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.